Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Friday, November 5, 2010

Sumahi enjoys it when I read to her the book Where the Wild Things Are.

I read it to her in Chamorro and add my own commentary. At first she hated it when I would speak in Chamorro while reading it, because she knew that since it was a book it was statistically more likely to be in the English language. But now she's gotten used to it and she talks along with me as I read.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Saturday, October 30, 2010

I hear times and times again that people say "Sumahi" sounds like a Japanese name. So I went to look for a combination of words that "Sumahi" might means. I first tried "Su" and "Mahi" as different charactor, but there were no character for just "Su" and "Mahi" means to numb. Then I tried "Suma" and "Hi" and what I come up is this:

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Monday, September 6, 2010

Sumahi's current favorite song on Youtube comes from the Youtube creator Dave Days. There are a number of different reasons why she likes it so much, from the ice cream being thrown against the wall to the presence of large "papet palao'an" or paper woman in the video. She has also started to develop a love for Miley Cyrus videos on Youtube and so for those who know the lore of the site, one of the things which shot Dave Days to fame and Youtube fortune was his parodies of Miley Cyrus songs and videos. He would use a cardboard cutout (hence "papet palao'an") of her in in his videos, which he would both love and be tormented by. In this video, the "Last Song" Dave Davys finally gets to meet the "magahet na palao'an" the "real woman."

The video itself and the lyrics are below. If you catch her at the right moment you can actually hear her singing parts of the song (both in English and sometimes in Chamorro, because when I watch it with her I translate it into Chamorro when I'm singing along).

Lyrics:This has been going onEach second i look you're goneYou're not callingIt's time for me to move onMy friends were right all alongYou keep falling away

Giving ups not easyIts hard enough just saying

As much as i make believeYou're not really here with meWhat was i thinking from the beginningYou didn't care at all

So here's your last song

I can leave it all behindOr take another chance to find youNo where in sightGoing to the movies aloneEvery scene that's shownReminds me of you

Giving ups not easyIts hard enough just saying

As much as i make believeYou're not really here with meWhat was i thinking from the beginningYou didn't care at allAll that's left are the memoriesConstantly haunting meI'm giving up it's time to grow upYou're not around and we're not in love

Laying around in around in this hotel roomToo much to think about nothing to doShe's not coming back she's not coming back

As much as i make believeSomething in side of meHas got me hoping got me thinkingWho am i to assume

This love is crazyUnpredictable maybeYou'll melt my heart like you did from the startAll over again like it's not the end

So here's your last song

Yeah we made it outYeah we made it outYeah we made it outYeah we made it out

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Well technically, Akli'e' is already political since he's been to countless organizing meetings on Guam and two protests as well. This picture of Akli'e' was taken outside the Department of Public Health during a protest of support for a local veterinarian who is arguing that the government board which is in charge of the local animal health industry, is trying to put him out of busy in order to protect the business interests of certain board members (who have their own facilities).

Monday, May 31, 2010

Monday, May 24, 2010

One of my Guam History students wrote this short story, as a gift to me and Sumahi. For those who have seen the movie Kick Ass or read the comic its based on, some of the names might be familiar.

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The Story of Big Daddy Bevacqua and Hit Girl Sumåhi

One normal day on the beautiful island of Guam, Big Daddy Bevacqua was tending to his breadfruit tree, while Nene Girl Sumåhi was picking up mango for her legendary smoothies at Sumåhi’s Smoothie Shop. All was fine and dandy until Nay V came to steal Big Daddy and Sumåhi’s breadfruit and mango. Nay V was tricky and brought mustard gas but no hotdogs!

Moments later Big Daddy B and Nene Girl Sumåhi awoke to a barren mango tree and fruitless breadfruit tree and oddly enough both craving hotdogs…Meanwhile back at Base Exchange Nay V brings the spoils of the recent raid to his Boss Uncle Sam. “Finally! Now make me my breadfruit chips and mango smoothies slaves!!!” The Pilipino caterers got to work immediately.

Back at the ranch Big Daddy Bevacqua and Nene Girl Sumåhi prepare to meet Uncle Sam head-on at the Base Exchange. Big Daddy Bevacqua arms himself with a sling, a pouch full of pugua’ and homework assignments. Nene Girl Sumåhi is sporting a beautiful pair of fresh bone daggers and tons of Candy. Big Daddy B and Nene Girl Sumåhi arrive at the Base Exchange only to be told they need to get a guest pass at the visitor’s office, so they turn their karabao around and head to the visitor’s office. Once the task was completed Big Daddy Bevacqua and Nene Girl Sumåhi continued to the infamous Base Exchange. Nay V arrives, “So you finally decided to show up?” Sumåhi begins by throwing candy on the ground behind Nay V, while Big Daddy Bevacqua slings a pugua’ straight to Nay V’s forehead. Nay V stumbles back slipping on the candy and begins to fall. Nene Girl Sumåhi slides underneath Nay V with daggers up…Needless to say Nay V ended up dead and covered in homework. Big Daddy B and Nene Girl Sumåhi enter the Base Exchange only to find that Uncle Sam had already fled, so they gather up all the chips and smoothies and head home after another hard day of fighting the US Empire.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Friday, March 19, 2010

There is a special election for Guam just around the corner (fa'na'an agupa').

Signs for different candidates are already appearing around the island, and mingling with those who are running in the general election in November.

In order to help prepare Sumahi for the upcoming election I decided that whenever we are driving around, and we see the political sign for a certain candidate, we would excitedly yell out his or her name. By chance, the candidate we chose was Martin Benavente, the former Mayor of Dededo and Sunshine supporter.

So now, whenever we pass one of his many signs, me and Sumahi yell out "MARTIN BENAVENTE!"

This post is in no way an endorsement of Martin Benavente for Senator, but only that its fun to hear Sumahi say his name.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Monday, February 8, 2010

I have no idea why, but whenever she sees one, even if its not moving, she gets excited and yells out "Botosaikot!"

Here is the picture of Sumahi's first ride on a motorcylce (well, technically kind of a scooter/motorcycle). Her auntie Angela Santos gave her the ride during the DEIS protest last November at the ITC intersection.